Category: God

Marked by Light

The first five verses of the Bible set the stage for the creation of the world as we know it. God knew light was essential for life, so speaking light into His world came first.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day’ and the darkness ‘night.’

And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.

Genesis 1:1-5 (NASB)

Days are marked by light. God saw the light and said it was good. Jesus was present at creation and is described as The Light. When the first light appeared in the sky, I believe it was a reflection of His Love and Light to come.

Being in the light of day or in the Light of Christ is wonderful, but not always easy. When light is shed upon my heart, I can no longer hide or run away. Christ’s light isn’t a spotlight or an interrogation instrument. It’s a sunrise that marks the beginning of a new journey. God doesn’t expect me to be perfect or perform for Him. He simply wants to shed His Son’s precious love into my heart so I can find my way to Him. He wants me to be marked by the Light.

It’s appropriate that God, the Creator, would begin His Word with light because His plan of salvation begins with Light. I can close my windows and lower the blinds if the light is too much for me during the day, and I can close my mind and hide my heart if His love is too much for me. Both keep me from the life He desires for me.

No one can shed light the way God sheds light, and I can’t read these verses without imagining His smile as He saw the sun rise on the first day of creation. It was the same smile He had on His face as His only Son was baptized. He said the light was good on that first day of creation, and He said he was well-pleased with His Son on the first day of His ministry. A new day was dawning in His world, and He knew it would never be the same.

Sunrise on Topsail Island

Living Word

The WordWe give words life when we utter, whisper, or shout them out. Some say there is no such thing as an original thought, and I understand what they mean. Words and thoughts may be the same, but each of us has our own unique way of expressing words and thoughts. God’s Word is an expression of His love, which comes alive as nothing else can when read with an open heart. John explains beautifully at the beginning of his gospel.

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (NASB John 1:1-5)

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (NASB John 1:14)

God’s Word literally became human, and it comes alive each time I turn to it. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I can hear and experience God’s love. Just as David wondered how God could think about a mere mortal like me, I wonder even more how He could speak to me. Without the Holy Spirit, God’s Word turns into a battleground or a fairy tale. With His help, it becomes a wellspring of living water that connects me to the Source of all love.

There are folks who say the Bible is not a very loving book. That’s true if I pick passages out of context and use them to promote my agenda or prove my point. When I see the Word and Christ as one in the same, I approach it with respect and familiarity. Christ fulfilled the scriptures and gave access to God’s unfailing love. When I absorb that truth, the Word of God becomes more than a battering ram. It becomes part of me as I read it and let it sink deeply into my being.

Christ was the Word before the world came into existence, and He will be the Word long after this world is gone. He was, is, and always will be the Light that dispels darkness. I choose whether to embrace His Light or turn it off. If I open His Word with an open heart, His Holy Spirit will help me find the love that has been, is, and will always be waiting for me.

Night Thoughts

Night Sky

Psalm 8 praises the majesty and mystery of God. David is looking up at the night sky and asks how the Creator of such a display could possibly think about him. I wonder the same thing each day.

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-

the moon and the stars you set in place-

what are mere mortals that you should think about them?”

Psalm 8:3-4(NASB)

Christ answered David’s question when He became one of us and connected us to the Creator It wasn’t just any connection; it was a oneness, family brought together by the single most beautiful expression of love the world has every known.

David was well acquainted with love and known as a man after God’s own heart. If David had been alive when Christ came to earth, I believe he would have been the first in line to hear His message of God’s unfathomable love. David had faults, so do we all, but his psalms reflect an intimacy with God that astounds me. He cried, praised, supplicated, adored, and even argued with God.

Sometimes, King David forgot he was a mere mortal and took on the role of God. We all do the same at some point during in our lives. In Psalm 8, however, he humbled himself in the presence of God’s majesty as he looked upon His handiwork. I love sunsets and sunrises, but a clear night sky takes my breath away. I feel so very tiny under the vastness of a clear moonlit night. I wonder how God could ever notice someone as small as I am. Then, I remember a baby in Bethlehem and my heart relaxes into His love. I know Jesus loves me, and that means His Father and the Holy Sprit also love me because they are One.

Light came into my bedroom far too early this morning, so I got up to find the source; I assumed an outside light must have been left on. I smiled when I opened my curtains and found a spectacular moon setting in the western sky. The clouds were nestled in the valleys as the moon gave her final performance before disappearing into the day. I sat on the floor soaking in the majesty of my Maker and understanding why David was so enthralled with Him.

When I look at God’s handiwork, I am made vividly aware of His majesty. When I look at Christ, I am made vividly aware of His love. Like David, I can’t imagine how the Creator could even think of a mere mortal like me. God reminds me when I get those night thoughts or early morning thoughts that Jesus loves me and so does He ❤

This isn’t my view this morning, but it’s very close to the scene that woke me this morning. My mountains were covered in a fluffy white blanket of clouds. 

Moonset

Photo Credit: Consworld

At Home With Family

Ephesians makes me feel at home with God. I am His own child and joint heir to an inheritance I cannot begin to imagine. I hear powerful words of encouragement in 3:17-21.

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 

Now all glory to God, who is able through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen” (NASB)

Knowing Christ feels at home in my heart changes the way I love and live. If Christ were coming for a visit, I would be in a dither trying to get everything ready for Him. If I see Him as family at home in my heart, I can relax and enjoy the oneness and comfort family affords. With family, I can be myself. It changes the way I see God and myself when I come to the understanding that He is family.

When my roots reach deeply into God’s love, I find a strength and acceptance I cannot describe. I find peace and love and grace opening my heart to embrace that love. I can’t reach the end of His love because there is no end in any direction I go. I know I will not fully understand Christ’s love until I am with Him in heaven, but I will have a deeper fullness of life if I stretch my faith and allow my heart to explore the vastness of His precious love. Nothing strengthens the heart as effectively as a loving family, and Christ makes that possible for everyone who yearns to be loved and embraced as they are.

God accomplishes infinitely more than I can ask, think, or imagine if I allow Him to make His home in my heart. Love gets wider, longer, and deeper in my own heart as Christ tears down the walls and adds on to my heart in a powerful way. He gives me room to relax and remember who I am. I am God’s daughter, and He delights in me! When I think of Christ being at home in my heart, it makes me smile and treat Him like a big Brother. I believe He likes that better than being treated like a visitor or a marble statue.

Nothing is sweeter than the cozy feeling of being at home with my family. My son and his family have been gone for a few days, and I’ve missed my little granddaughters so very much. The house is clean; the laundry is finished, and the refrigerator is full. I even rearranged the girls playroom. As I look around at the quiet, clean house, I long for the joyful noise of play and the mess that goes along with living with those I love. Jesus and I have had a lot of quiet time together, and it’s been wonderful; but we are both ready for the house to fill up with the love that makes this life worth living.

 

His Own Child

His Own Child

Ephesians 1:3-14 brings home the transforming truth that God has identified me as His own.

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ-everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance and he makes everything work our according to his plan.

God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.” (NASB)

God’s family expanded in a tremendous way when Jesus brought the good news that Gentiles were to be included in God’s family. I don’t know how it feels to be adopted, but accepting Christ’s love and entering into an inheritance with Him gives me a glimpse of what it might be like. I do know what it feels like to be loved and to have someone delight in me. I’m beginning to see God as a loving Father who loves and delights in me more than I ever imagined possible, and that is transforming my heart.

Identified, purchased, united to receive an inheritance of unequaled value! What joy I feel when I embrace that as truth and see myself as God sees me-His own child. God’s inheritance increases as His family expands. Earthly inheritances are diminished by numbers, but God’s ways are higher than those found here. More siblings mean less money for me. That’s bad enough if a new baby is born, but it’s unbearable when children are adopted to become joint heirs. God makes it clear there is more than enough for all; in fact, the inheritance grows if it is shared.

If I were heir to a great fortune and knew that my inheritance would increase as more heirs were added, I’m sure I would be about bringing more into the family. How much more that ought be true when it comes to my Father’s family.

 

May the Lord Bless You!

numbers6.24

The Priestly Blessing at the end of Numbers 6 is one of the most beautiful scriptures in the Bible. God told Moses to tell Aaron to bless the people of Israel with a very special blessing.

“May the Lord bless you and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord show his favor and give you his peace.

Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.” (NASB)

All blessings spoken, prayed, or thought in God’s name carry the power to change those being blessed and those doing the blessing.

The power of this blessing is understanding that God blesses me in my blessing of others. The same is true in my forgiving, extending grace, and loving as He desires. What a floodgate opened when I allowed this blessing to wash over my heart!

This blessing may have been for the Israelites, but Christ opened the door for me to become one of God’s children and receive His blessing when He chose to come, to love, to die, to rise, and to bring God’s Holy Spirit to a world desperately in need of blessing.

God knows blessing others in His name changes who I am. Christ expanded on these scriptures when He taught me to love, forgive, and bless my enemies. That turns my world and theirs upside down, and that is precisely what God intends. God’s blessing comes when I am willing to be turned upside down, and it brings a peace that defies description.

I don’t have to understand the why or the how of this cycle of blessing, but I must be willing to let God open my heart to possibilities I cannot imagine on my own. Nothing opens the gate to my heart more powerfully than blessing others. It is the heart of the Priestly Blessing, and it is the key to drawing nearer to God. I cannot live in a vacuum and expect God to pour blessings down upon me. He created me to connect to Him and to others, and there is no better way to connect than to bless. No one knows that better than God.

 

 

 

A Time to…

Ecclesiastes 3_1Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 is a beautiful reminder that there is a time for all things in life.

“There is an appointed time for everything.

And there is a time for every event under heaven

A time to give birth and a time to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

A time to kill and a time to heal;

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?

I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor-it is a gift of God” (NASB)

Understanding there is a time for everything isn’t about better scheduling or mastering multi-tasking, and it isn’t about being all or doing all. It is about living life and rejoicing in doing good in this lifetime we are given. I love a new beginning, birth, planting, building, embracing, laughing, and keeping. I do not like an ending, death, tearing, mourning, weeping, or giving up. Ecclesiastes reminds me to look at the seasons of life in a new light, an eternal one. God sets my mind and my heart toward eternity, and that changes the way I see the beautiful seasons and the dark ones.

God doesn’t promise a life without death or weeping. Life must be filled with both good and bad if I am to grow and learn as God desires. There is no better time than New Year’s Day to change my view of time. Giving up my agendas and plans allows God’s plans to fall into the open space they leave behind. I cannot be well seasoned unless I go through all the seasons of life. I am learning to embrace, but not hold tightly to, the good times and lean upon Him and not stop during the difficult. The journey is meant to prepare me for eternity. That brings a sweet new perspective and changes the way I love and live my life.

 

The Gift of Grace

The dictionary definition of Christian grace is “the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.” That’s as close as words can come to the heart of grace, but God’s gift of grace is beyond words. Like love, grace must be felt on a deep level before the heart and mind can wrap themselves around it. The way to know if I understand grace is to see how it is extended in my own life.

God’s grace is taken for granted, ignored, expected, and sometimes demanded, but humble acceptance is the only appropriate response when offered the gift of grace. It is the time of year when gifts are given and received. Awkwardness comes when I don’t receive a gift from a loved one or when an unexpected gift catches me off guard. I’m learning to give and receive grace, and that means not worrying about a response at all.

God grace is given with love and without expectation. He loves our attempts at giving, just as I adore each little gift Lillyann and Mylah fashion for me. The notes, drawings, and special treasures they give bless me, but they don’t compare to a heartfelt embrace or a sweet “I love you Gigi.” Those are true treasures! God feels the same way about me. My meager offerings bless His heart, but time spent in His presence means more.

I was reminded vividly yesterday of the importance of sweet intimate moments. They won’t satisfy a selfish soul, but they always delight a selfless spirit, especially when they come unexpectedly. Having my mind set on a particular gift or time with a loved one will always disappoint, but accepting the beautiful gifts God places in my path always amazes me. Letting go of what I want leads to more than I could ever imagine on my own. Tyler learned quickly not to ask Santa for a long list of specifics. He always got the best gifts when he asked Santa to surprise him. I’m learning to tell God the same thing.

Healing Hurts

Plants flourish under the right conditions, and the same is true for love. God provides the perfect environment for the fruit of His Spirit to grow unhindered when I open my heart to His ways and stop trying to do what only He can.

Proper light is essential for growth. If I insist on the spotlight,  love will shrink and die in the glare of my selfishness. If I hide in a cave, it will whither and die in the darkness.

Knowing the right amount of moisture to keep a plant healthy is important. God is the Master Gardener and knows that His Word is water when it comes to growing His love. I can drown His love in license or allow it to dry up in the law, but it’s best to let His Holy Spirit guide me through the water so I get the nourishment I need.

Warmth brings life out of the ground and love out of the heart. The frost of isolation kills any chance of love making it to the surface, and fiery lust leaves only ashes in its wake. Christ’s precious love cools lust and warms loneliness leaving the perfect temperature for God’s love to yield a bountiful crop.

Galatians 5:22-23 is a familiar verse that many have memorized. Love is the fruit of the Spirit, and it leads my heart to a bountiful harvest when I let God do the gardening.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (NASB)

Bearing fruit is painful. Loving is painful. Growth is painful. Change is painful. All involve healing and growth, and that means pain. God’s powerful lesson this morning was that all healing involves hurt, but the hurt is worth the wellness that comes when I allow God’s love to take my heart in a new direction that pleases Him. A new direction isn’t possible without a new mindset and a change of heart. God made that painfully clear this morning as He did some therapy on my heart. The signs at the gym say, “No Pain, No Gain,” and nothing hurts more than the physical therapy necessary for proper healing. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the same applies to my heart.

Healing Hurts